The CID legacies
by Elisha Silverpine
Summary: When a murder occurs in an amusement park in Mumbai, the CID investigate. The difference? They're joined by eleven kids who do a bit of crime solving themselves. Their specialty? They're the CID legacies, the kids of the CID officers!
1. The haunted house just got more bloody

**Here it is! The story I'm sure some people have been waiting for! My take on the next generation of our CID officers! Inspiration credits of the storyline go to the Hound of the Baskervilles and the Hounds of Baskerville. For the characters:**

 **Avinash: Percy Jackson (PJO) and Alec Lightwood (The mortal instruments); Priyanka: Sadie Kane (The Kane chronicles) and Hermione Granger (Harry Potter); Anurag: Ron Weasley (Harry Potter) and Peter Parker (Ultimate Spiderman); Anjali: Ginny Weasley (Harry Potter) and Clarisse La Rue (PJO); Rohit: Jem Carstairs (The Infernal Devices) and Peeta Mellark (The hunger games); Amit: Leo Fitz (Agents of SHIELD) and Leo Valdez (PJO); Mary: Jemma Simmons (Agents of SHIELD) and Calypso (PJO); Mayuri: Thalia Grace (PJO) and Isabelle Lightwood (The mortal instruments); Rohan: Fred Weasley (Harry Potter and Marco (Animorphs); Shruti: Molly Hooper (Sherlock) and Rachel Dare (PJO); UV: Jace Herondale (The mortal instruments) and Hawkeye (Avengers Assemble)**

 **So read on! I'm saying this once, I'm not saying again: I don't own any of the CID characters except for these eleven kids and other OCs that I'll make up in the near future.**

If you're listening to this, then congratulations! You're one of the rare guys or girls who'll ever get to know what it's like to be a CID officer's kid.

Mainly you'll get to hear about how we helped our parents solve a case that was found to be bigger than Mount Everest on a growth spurt. How a mountain goes on a growth spurt, you may ask. How the hades should I know?

[Fine Anjali, I'll stop stalling.]

My name is Priyanka Srivastava. And the day it all began was when our class took a trip to entertainment city.

The morning we took that trip, my older brother Anurag had pushed me off the bed in an effort to wake me up rather than just telling me about entertainment city, which would have woken me up faster than you could say, "Gods of Olympus!"

Ah, brothers. How nice it is to have a brother that'll wake you up painfully. Good times.

"ANURAG!" I yelled as I leapt to my feet and raced after him, while he ran to hide from me, laughing all the way. After running about trying to find him, I gave up and retreated to the bathroom. After brushing my teeth, I ran down the stairs to the kitchen to get my coffee - milky and sweet. [Of course I have to run, Anjali. It's my job.]

My mom, Tarika Srivastava chuckled as I got to my coffee cup. "Somebody's excited today." She said, ruffling my hair.

"Of course she is." Anurag called out. "We're going to entertainment city, mom. _The_ entertainment city." He sauntered in, his glasses having been freshly wiped. "Ooh, coffee." He said, eagerly scooping up his mug.

"Our fixer upper." I agreed.

"Please don't tell me you're still obsessed with that movie." Dad said as he walked into the kitchen as well.

"It is _not_ an obsession." I reminded him sweetly. "'Frozen' is an amazing movie that will always be part of my life."

"Dear god, help us all." He muttered as he made his way over to mom. "Good morning, Tarika ji." He said, kissing mom's forehead. She smiled at that.

"So everyone's up!" Mom declared. "You three better get ready fast. Chitrole's coming over for inspection and the last thing we need is his criticism again."

"I'm already ready." Dad said. "Gulp down your coffee, you two and get ready for the trip, or I'm not taking either of you to CID bureau."

Long story short, we did get ready fast, even if Anurag ended up hogging the bathroom for a longer time than me. We didn't have to wear school uniforms or anything, so I put on a green shirt, wore black jeans and even threw in my black puma sneakers. What can I say? I'm a Slytherin.

In a while we got to CID bureau, from where we would catch our bus to school FYI. As we made our way to the bureau, we heard voices.

"Pirates!"

"Ninjas!"

"Pirates!"

"Ninjas!"

"What the hades is going on?" I asked, irritated as we entered the bureau to find our friends Mayuri and Rohan glaring at each other while the others were looking at them, trying not to laugh.

"They're having this argument over which is better: Pirates or Ninjas." Anjali my best mate, told me.

"I say Pirates." Rohan said, crossing his arms.

"I still say Ninjas." Mayuri said, flexing her arms.

"Guys, guys." Rohit said, carefully approaching the two of them. "Arguing over something like this isn't going to be productive. Come on!" He complained as Mayuri punched his arm.

I'd better fill you in on us people, in the case you are completely confused as to who we are. Well, first things first; we're the CID legacies.

Confused? Like I said, we're the kids of the CID officers. Since we are the legacy of the CID (and if you don't know what a legacy is, then shame on you.) we call ourselves the CID legacies. And there are twelve of us legacies.

Legacy number one is Avinash Pradyuman, adoptive grandson of ACP Pradyuman and leader of our gang. Avinash had been six years old when he'd run away from his abusive parents who were later murdered by their business partners for hiding some scandal. ACP uncle had adopted him since they were close to each other during the whole fiasco.

The thing about him is that he's not a rule breaker. Sure, he'll do so according to situation, but most of the time he prefers following the rules. He's rather good looking and we have a close relationship, since I'm his second in command. And I really, really like him, since he can cheer me up with his jokes when I'm down. [Anjali, shut up. Shut up _right now._ I don't like him that way!]

Then there's me. What can I say about myself? Nothing much of interest. Just the fact I'm a HUGE fangirl. My fandoms are Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Sherlock, Divergent, Hunger Games…yeah, there's a lot.

Legacy number three happens to be my brother Anurag Srivastava. He's the chemistry genius and loves that subject like no other. He's also something of a looker but he's also a tad clueless when it comes to dealing with people of the opposite gender. Small wonder why his flirting attempts with the ladies always go wrong.

Number four is my best friend Anjali Shetty. She's Daya uncle and Shreya aunty's daughter, so that means she's the strongest girl in our gang. She's also a feminist, so she really doesn't like people who make sexist remarks, punching being her final solution to any problem. She has a short temper, which has got her into trouble in school a lot. And I'm probably going to get punched for saying this, but she and Anurag like each other. [Admit it Anjali. You do.] Number five's her more responsible and mature twin brother Rohit, who often plays the role of peacemaker in the gang.

Six and seven are Freddy uncle's son and Pankaj uncle's daughter Amit Phadnis and Mary Nagrath, 'the inventors' as we call them. Unlike Freddy uncle, Amit loves the paranormal and does research on them whenever possible. He can make _anything_ , from origami to paper water bombs and a lot of stuff with pencils, erasers and rubber bands. Don't ask.

Mary on the other hand can make stuff, but she's the mother hen of the group. The best part about her is her compassionate side. She's always ready to hear anyoneout, whether they want to discuss about something or rant about someone. She's scared of blood, but that does _not_ make her a coward in any way. She's also amazing at sketching and painting. We all agree to the fact that if Mary hadn't been around all this time, then all of us wouldn't have survived either from starvation or from what crazy crap we usually come up with.

Number eight is Mayuri Pandey, Sachin uncle and Anita aunty's daughter. And let me tell you something. You do NOT want, under any circumstances, to make this girl your enemy as she is both a dancer and a karate champion who takes offense to sexist remarks. She has a habit of talking back to people who insult her, which sadly has landed her in trouble a couple of times in school.

Number nine is Rohan Shukla, Nikhil uncle and Purvi aunty's son and a prankster. He has a great sense of humor and is the bane of majority of the teachers in our school thanks to all his pranks. He and Mayuri have been best friends since pre-school, so they know each other inside out. He can be a tad rude and tactless at times, but he's a fun guy to hang out with.

Ten and eleven are Shruti and UV Kumar, Rajat uncle and Meghna aunty's kids. Shruti's the older and more mature sibling. She's a whiz at SST and chemistry, so whenever we get into trouble in these subjects (which is more often than not), we get to her for the help we need. UV is younger than her by a year and is a computer expert. As we say, he can be smart when he wants to be. He's Rohan's second best friend and generally when he gets into trouble, he's called _Udayveer_ either by Shruti or by his mom (and in some exceptionally rare cases, his Dad).

The last legacy is Anandmayi 'Anandi' Williams, Mayuri's cousin and Kavin uncle's daughter. She goes to another school (Bhavans) while the rest of us go to DPS. To top it off, she and UV are _dating_. Don't ask us how that happened.

Now, back to story.

"Mayuri, Rohan, give it a rest!" I told them whilst shaking my head. "Pirates and Ninjas are equally great! Happy?"

"Nope." Mayuri shook her head.

"Absolutely not." Rohan said as well. Thankfully Avinash spared us from further comparisons by looking out of the window and saying, "Hey, our bus has arrived!"

I swear I've never seen anyone move so quickly before. Entertainment city must be that motivating.

It was a rather beautiful day at the park when we got there. The sky was a bright blue, the weather was perfect…nothing indicated any sign of impending trouble.

Now let me tell you something; I'd seen some pretty big amusement parks, but Entertainment City was _huge_. There were rides everywhere: there were roller coasters of all shapes and sizes; an impressive ride known as _the tornado_ , a roller coaster which chucked you around in your seat as it spun around like a tornado; a giant Ferris wheel; a water ride called _the oasis ride_ ; a 'haunted' house and lots of video and simulation games along with laser tag and paintball, to name a few.

We split up into groups. Us girls decided to check out the more extreme rides while the guys went off exploring the shops for snacks. By the time lunch time came around, we'd gone on _the tornado_ , _the oasis ride_ , _Taga disco_ (huge dancing floor which spins and jerks; we had to try and keep standing as the ride went on), laser tag and a rather peaceful river cruise (read: FAKE RIVER) while the guys had gone on other roller coasters and shopped for cotton candy and other snacks. (DISCLAIMER: Under no circumstances are you to try _the tornado_ unless you do not have a fear of heights, you have glasses which won't break even after a forty thousand kilometer drop and if you can walk on the ground after the ride without throwing up)

"Useless, I tell you." Mayuri shook her head at the boys. "We had so much fun, and all you guys did was shop and go on a few measly roller coasters?"

"Well, on the plus side, I got to stock up on my prank supplies." Rohan held up his back pack. "The shops here are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Much better than the stores nearby home. Anyhow, what's the agenda? Do we have lunch, or we go on another ride?"

"I vote for lunch." UV exclaimed. Like most boys, UV Kumar was solely motivated in life by the needs of his stomach.

"No man. We still have time for another ride. Why don't we go in the haunted house?" Anurag suggested. Rohit snorted at the suggestion.

"The haunted house? Utter bull. Aahat creeps me out more than that, and let me tell you; Aahat is ridiculous."

"Well," Avinash spoke thoughtfully. "The girls could use a nice walk. Plus, we could directly go to lunch from there. There's a pizzeria nearby from where we can have our lunch. I vote for the haunted house."

Avinash Pradyuman: Solving crisis's for boys and girls from the age of ten. He had solved the problem for all of us through his tactical approach. [Now what are you laughing at, Anjali?]

The haunted house was ridiculous. From the outside, it looked like Dracula's castle-if the castle had been made from worn out plastic- and inside, was a whole array of wax figures, fake hellhounds, broken robots and a lot of fake and mechanical evil laughter that bounced off poorly hidden speakers. Little kids clung to their mommies and daddies as they shrieked when they saw the fake statues. Us? We walked as we tried not to laugh.

I walked beside Avinash. Avinash was my best guy friend and a close confidante. We could converse with each other easily since we knew each other inside out. Plus he could cheer me up when I felt irritable or sad, so I loved to hang out with him.

"Lovely attempts, don't you think?" Avinash pointed at a clearly fake bloodstain. "They just need to add the ghosts from 'Aahat' to complete the show."

"Pakya ke andar maa ki Aatma." I joked, remembering that rather silly episode 'Possessed shoes'. "Or we could always put Mathew sir. His visage is enough to scare people."

"Bloody Physics teacher. Did you hear what he did to that sixth grader the other day?"

"What did he do?"

"Mathew sir makes a mistake. Sixth grader tries to say the correct thing. Sir becomes a prat and chews out the poor girl pretty badly and then finds out about the mistake."

"Did he apologize?"

"The day Mathew sir apologizes is the day grandpa regrows his hair back." Avinash said, and whistled. "Look at that. The bloodstains look realer and realer by the second."

"Hurry up, slow coaches!" Anjali yelled at us. We looked up to see her at the end of the hallway. The others had overtaken us. "Amit and Mary are long gone! Are you planning on reaching the exit by nine PM?"

We were about to respond, when we heard a loud scream from the end of the hallway. We paled as we ran to the room from where the scream had come from, as the scream belonged to Mary. When we entered the graveyard exhibit, what we saw there made our jaws drop open.

A hellhound the size of a small car glared at us. It had a rather hellish appearance, with red, flaming eyes that looked too real to be fake and had a large amount of blood on its paws and its mouth. It growled at us and sprung at us. Had not Anurag and Anjali pulled us away at the correct time, I swear we would have turned into kibbles n' human bits. The hellhound raced out of the room, its paws leaving bloody paw prints on the smooth marble floor.

We then turned to Mary, who looked white with fear as she covered her mouth with one hand and pointed behind us with the other. We turned around to see the mangled, bloody dead body of our Physics teacher looking vacantly at the ceiling, huge scratches and deep slashes on his arms and chest.

I have to admit, when I had hoped our Physics teacher would leave us all for eternity, I did not expect him to leave this way.

"My god…" Avinash gasped, his eyes widening in shock. Mary whimpered; the pool of blood surrounding the body was huge. Avinash turned to face Mary and Amit, who was supporting her in case she fainted.

"Amit, I want you to take Mary out. Get her some ice cream, that works wonders for her. Then call your Dad. Make sure no one else gets inside the haunted house. Notify an adult as well, you get me?"

"Got it boss." Amit and Mary hurried out as Avinash dished instructions out to the rest of us present there. "Mayuri, you and Rohan get to the entrance and wait for our parents. Anurag, Rohit and Anjali, you guys get everyone out of here. UV and Shruti, you guys make sure no one disturbs the area until the officers arrive."

"What about me?" I asked him.

"We follow the paw prints." He started walking in the direction of the paw prints without waiting. I followed him a second later, surveying the area. The hellhound had chosen a remote area for its escape, since the only people there were the janitor and a couple, who were scurrying out in fright. The prints were getting fainter and fainter and finally vanished at a door which led to an exit to the parking lot.

"This was deliberate." I commented.

"How?"

"Let's see. From what I'm seeing, a dog can't open the door on its own so someone must have left it open. It's either that or the janitor was careless. And, the parking area is huge. Even if we had run, we'd have seen a dog the size of a small vehicle running around here by the time we reached, due to the small amount of vehicles. So translation: someone got this dog to kill sir, and whisked it off as soon as possible."

"Good work." Avinash complimented me. My face warmed.

"Thanks. Now let's get back." We ran back the way we came to wait for the CID officers to come. About ten to fifteen minutes later, Mayuri and Rohan came back with Dad, Daya uncle, Shreya aunty, Sachin uncle and Anita aunty and directed them to the fake graveyard.

"Ze crime scene, messiers et madams." UV waved his hand in the direction of the dead body in a horrible fake French accent.

"It's 'monsieurs' and 'madames', UV." Mayuri corrected him. "And that French accent was so bad, even a Hindi student could tell if it was fake or not." UV, being the mature boy he is, stuck his tongue out at her, much to everyone's amusement.

"Ahem." Anita aunty coughed. "What happened here? And who is he?"

We explained everything that had occurred so far, from the haunted house entry to the escape of the hound. When I'd finished explaining my theory about this being deliberate, Dad turned to Daya uncle.

"Daya?" He asked him, an impressed look on his face.

"Yes Abhijeet?"

"I think we should leave the investigation process to our children itself. We just have to follow them and do the hard work of running and catching the killers."

"Exactly, Abhijeet. You children did a pretty fine job today." Daya uncle told us. Anjali grinned at the compliment and Rohit looked proud. Mayuri suddenly looked at the crowd behind her parents. Her facial expression changed into one of disgust and barely concealed annoyance.

"I've had it with that joker!" She stormed into the crowd, leaving Sachin uncle and Anita aunty look at her in confusion.

"Kalsi's trying to flirt with her again." Rohan explained. "After effects can be heard in three, two, one…" We all heard a THWACK! In the background.

"Who?" Anita aunty asked.

"Rohan Kalsi. He's her classmate."

"Never mind. Sachin, call the ambulance and get the body to the forensics lab. You kids are coming back with us." Dad told whomsoever he addressed, and was met with an indignant shout from UV and Rohan on the necessity of food. The issue was settled with take outs from the nearby Papa John's pizzeria.

In the bureau, as soon as the pizza boxes were opened, naturally the conversation went to the murder and the hound.

"Why would anyone want to kill off Mathew sir?" Shruti curiously asked.

"He was rude, insensitive and a jerk. But that doesn't give anyone the right to kill him." A calmer Mary merely picked at her pizza as she said this.

"We're having a two day holiday for mourning." Rohan informed us.

"How about we check out what's really going on tomorrow? I mean, our parents are investigating-" Anurag began.

"Not me." Mary shuddered. "I'm staying at home and working on my history PowerPoint presentation."

"I'd sit this one out for the same reason." Amit said as well.

"Let's not do anything reckless. Why don't we let the grownups handle this?" I suggested.

"We'll think about it later. Now, finish those pizzas!" Rohan commanded as he took a big bite out of his slice.

" _That_ ," Mayuri gagged, "Is incredibly disgusting."

As the conversation went to less gruesome topics, none of us gave a thought about the course of events occurring in the future.

 **So, how was it? A far cry from the universe Poesiariptide has created, but I gave it my best shot. Which character did you like the best? Which scene was your favorite?**

 **As for the names, I borrowed the name 'Rohan Kalsi' from one of the guys in tenth grade in my school. Rohan, if you're reading this or if anyone knowing Kalsi is reading this, then I mean no offence at all.**

 **Rate and Review, my lovelies!**


	2. The hellhound gets a backstory

**Sorry for the delay! I've had writers block, the guy who I have a crush on is dating my friend so I'm having an emotional crisis, I have my first Sunday test (le Français) coming up, my monthly friend has come to visit, my PSA improvement activities are going on, I have an event to sing at and the whole week has been a whirlwind for me, as a result.**

 **Here you go! Chapter 2: The hellhound gets one hell of a backstory**

Hello! Anjali Shetty here, at your service! Oh sorry, you didn't think Priyanka was going to do all the recording, were you? As if.

So, let's see, where were we? Murdered Physics teacher, creepy hellhound, investigation planning, yadda yadda yadda. Yeah, I think I can safely progress.

The next day was a rather busy one for the ninth and tenth graders. Rohit, Priya and I had to go over to one of our classmates' house to work on the debate project for our FA4 (which by the way, means formative assessment number 4. This constitutes the marks we get from the activities we do in the second term) that day, so the classmate Joshua was picking us up.

I have to admit, my parents were not that pleased with the grades which I had got for the first term exams. Three A2s in English, French and Math, a B1 in Science and a B2 in SST. At least I was better than Rohit, who got A2 in English and French, while securing B1 in the rest of the subjects. This term though, I was determined to increase my CGPA from 8.4 to at least a 9.5. [Don't look so surprised, Priyanka. I am a hard worker.]

At Joshua's flat, we were brainstorming for ideas for the topic, "Television does more harm than good" (we were for the motion) without much success, when Priyanka accidently tipped the glass of mango juice she had been drinking and spilt it.

"Oh, god! I'm so sorry!" She tried to apologize while getting some tissue papers to soak up the juice.

"Don't be." Joshua said, taking some tissues himself. "Your parents are solving my uncle's murder, aren't they?"

Three pairs of eyes turned onto Joshua with looks of astonishment. "Mathew sir was your _uncle_?"

"He was my dad's younger brother. My dad wasn't exactly on great terms with his brothers-"

" _Brothers_?!"

"I'll start from the beginning." Joshua started narrating. "My dad's family is descended from a royal family in Kerala. Jacob John, my dad and his two brothers Mathew and Alton are the last descendants of the family."

"I don't remember reading about any Christian royal family in Kerala in the _Aithihyamaala_." Priyanka said, frowning a bit.

"The what?" Rohit stared at her.

"The Aithihyamaala. The book about the great legends of Kerala." Priyanka sighed at our confused looks. "Honestly, don't you ever read?"

"Not all of us are literary geniuses, professor Priya." I dryly remarked. "Joshua, continue."

"Well, to answer Priyanka's doubt, that's because my dad's grandmother was from the Brahmin family. My dad's grandfather's side was purely Christian. The two ancestors had eloped after the king had refused to support the marriage. When the king had learnt of this, he flew into a terrible rage that grew even more after he had learnt that his daughter had run off with a large amount of wealth from the treasury."

Priyanka's eyes widened. Priya loves reading and listening to stories. "And then?"

"According to my dad, the king cursed his daughter and her lover that all their unworthy descendants would be killed by a huge animal, straight from the pits of hell. Then that king suffered a heartbreak, fell ill and died a pitiful death at the ripe old age of thirty nine-"

"Whoa, whoa. Time up." I raised my hand. " _Ripe old age of thirty nine?_ I don't know about you, but thirty nine sounds pretty young to me."

Joshua answered without hesitation, "During those times, dying at a young age was not uncommon. One was considered lucky if one survived till the age of forty. So anyway, the princess and her lover got secretly married and then had one kid, a boy who became my grandfather."

"My dad, Mathew uncle and Alton uncle were pretty close, until my grandfather passed away a long time back. When I was three, the three brothers had a huge disagreement over the property, after which they separated. My dad refuses to acknowledge the fact he has two brothers. Or rather _had_ two brothers. Any questions?"

"I have an important one." I said in a serious tone. "Why the hell didn't you tell us Mathew sir was your uncle?"

[Stop rolling your eyes at me Priya, it was a legit question!]

"…seriously? I just told you guys about why my dad and my uncles got separated, and that's the only question you've got for me?" Joshua facepalmed.

"Well, the bloody physics teacher-" I began, but was cut off by the ring of the doorbell. Joshua ran to get it, while we looked at each other.

"We'll call UV, then?" Rohit said, pulling out his phone. Generally, whenever we come across something historical, we either call Shruti or UV. Mostly we call UV, since he can dig up anything from the net using his prized laptop.

"Make the call, Rohit." Priyanka nodded. We heard Joshua speak suddenly.

"My dad's gone for a meeting involving the other tenants and my mom's grocery shopping. Dad ought to be home soon, possibly in five minutes."

"We can wait for the time being." Another voice answered, one that we knew pretty well. So the CID had decided to make their first stop here.

"Dad." I said, looking at Rohit.

"Maybe we can hear the questioning, when Jacob uncle comes back." He suggested. Priyanka frowned at that. We technically aren't allowed to listen to the interrogation between the officers and the suspects, so Priyanka tries to follow that rule majority of the time. But the rest of us usually pull her into listening to the conversations, much to her discomfort.

At that frown, I rolled my eyes. "Come off it, Priya! Don't you want to hear more about the mystery murder?"

"I do, but-"

"Well, well." Dad's voice called out, and we turned to our left to see Dad, Mom, Nikhil uncle and Purvi aunty. "So this is the classmate's house you three were talking about?"

"Yup." Rohit answered. "Any luck on the case, Dad?"

"That's classified."

"Aw come on. Not even one detail?" I asked, turning on my pouty face expression at Dad, who shook his head with an amused look on his face.

"I'll just eavesdrop again." Rohit thoughtfully said. "Or I can pinch a few files-"

"Rohit Dayanand Shetty!" Mom scolded him, making me grin. Rohit's usually the goody two shoes among the two of us (well at least when compared to me), so seeing him getting reprimanded was a bit funny for me. "You will not do anything like that!"

"But mom-" Rohit was cut off by Joshua's voice. "Dad's here!"

Half a minute later, the four of us were sitting in Joshua's bedroom, all of us trying to brainstorm for the debate quite unsuccessfully. About five minutes had passed before Priyanka threw her hands into the air from frustration.

"I can't think of a single thing!"

"I'm going to try listen to the conversation." Ignoring Priyanka's indignant protests, I positioned myself at the end of the hallway, away from any of the officers' range of sight while trying to listen to the interrogation. I occasionally caught a few snippets of conversation, but it didn't make sense. I gave up on listening and trudged back in defeat to the bedroom.

We got back to CID HQ with the officers, since we were pretty jobless. Priyanka, as usual, made a call to Avinash to update him.

"Hey, Avi." She spoke into the phone. "Yeah, we got something interesting. Listen can you ask UV to research on run away Malayali princesses?...Yeah, long story, capo. Will you, though?" She listened intently before a smile appeared on her face. "I know, mio caro, I know. Au revoir." She cut the call.

"Run-away Malayali princesses?" Purvi aunty skeptically asked her. Priyanka proceeded to tell everyone the tale of the elopement of Joshua's ancestors. [Priyanka? Stop interrupting me, miss I'm-so-perfect-in-English-grammar. I'm not gonna repeat myself again.]

Back at the bureau, UV once again wowed us with his amazing talent of digging information from the right place. Apparently the process had taken a lot of time, nearly an hour. Most people (even Priyanka) would have gone mad from frustration due to the amount of time it took, but not UV. Give Udayveer Kumar a computer or a laptop, snacks, Pepsi, strong Wi-Fi and Google Chrome and he will do wonders.

"From what I went through," He mumbled through mouthfuls of cheese flavored Doritos, "Apparently there had been a Varma family with a runaway princess. But the story says that it was Lord Guruvayoorappan who cursed the descendants with the hellhound, _not_ the king."

"If you put the same kind of enthusiasm into your studies-" Shruti sighed.

"Oh, not this again." UV theatrically groaned as he swallowed. "Look sis, I appreciate the fact you do care for my studies, but could you give it a rest? I have good grades, okay?"

"You got a twenty three in the SST Monday test, UV! That's a B1! If you would pay more attention-"

"Guys." Rohit chimed, half raising his hand. "Peace, guys. UV, anything about the fortune?"

UV grinned. "The fortune? Dude, you're talking about millions of gold coins. Heaps of precious stones the size of your closed fist. Scores of necklaces. Not to mention the diamonds. Man, that is one heck of a fortune they're describing. But to get to the point, rumors."

"Say what now?"

"Rumors. It hasn't been exactly proved that this branch of the family had ever existed. The only reason we know it might be true is because Joshua says it. And even then, it's hard to believe such a supernatural thing as a hellhound ever walked the earth."

"So, now what?" Mary asked.

"I say, let's leave our parents to this." Mayuri said. "Look, we're still teenagers. We have more important stuff going on in our lives, right? Let's just stick to that."

We were all interrupted by Amit looking out and exclaiming, "Hey! Isn't that Vicky and Tony? What are they doing out there? And what's that crowd?"

Sure enough, our two classmates were surrounded by a couple of guys, who we recognized as the bullies in our school. The two of them looked as though they were seriously upset. Priyanka's face turned into one of disgust.

"That's it." And without another word she went down the stairs, with us legacies following her. When we reached the crowd, we saw Priya and a boy who looked like a half troll arguing.

"What gives you the right, huh?" Priya snarled at him.

"You're sticking up for those _fairies_ , Srivastava?" The boy, who we identified as Samuel asked incredulously. "I never thought-"

"What the hell is going on?" Rohan asked, confused. We pushed our way to Vicky and Tony to check out the matter, and then stopped.

The two boys were holding hands. Suddenly everything seemed to make sense.

"They're actual people as much as you and I am, Samuel! What does it matter if they're-"

"Hold it peeps!" A new voice rang out from behind us. It belonged to one Anandi Williams, who looked at us quizzically. "What's going on?"

"We've got faggots in our school." Samuel sniggered at the boys. Anandi looked shocked.

"…what did you call them?" She whispered, her facial expression changing from shock to disgust.

"Fag-gots." The bully emphasized as his cronies guffawed. "That's what gay people are called, right? So I'm just-"

He didn't have time to complete that sentence before Anandi walked up to him and bitch slapped him. She looked at him in pure disgust before saying, "You think the only people who are people, are the people who think and look like you. But if you follow the footsteps of a stranger, you'll learn things that you never knew."

"What the F***?"

"Get away from them." She looked deadly now, in her blue uniform and the heavy bag she was carrying. "If you have nothing to say, then get the hell away and say nothing at all. If you don't, then I swear, I'll have you in trouble faster than you can blink your eye, got it? Now _move_."

Perhaps it was the fact that she was the daughter of a CID inspector that did the trick, for as soon as the words came out of her mouth, the bullies were gone. She then walked up to Vicky and Tony, both who looked relieved and grateful.

"Thanks." Tony said.

"Stand up for yourself." Anandi told them. "Just because you're gay does not mean you'll go to hell, or whatever, okay? As it is, I don't think the bullies will be back for some time." The boys nodded before leaving the area. Anandi looked at their retreating figures, before a sad look crossed her face.

"What's wrong, 'Nandi?" UV asked her, putting his arm around her. She looked at him and said, "I know how it feels to be ridiculed for your sexuality."

"You're gay too?" Rohan incredulously asked, before being whacked on the head by Mayuri.

"Bisexual." Anandi answered miserably. "I figured it out last year, when I had a crush on my partner. I was so scared when I found myself crushing on the girl sitting next to me."

"Do your parents know?" Mary asked, sliding an arm around her to comfort her.

"Both our parents know." Mayuri answered that.

"Mom and Dad were shocked at first." Anandi mumbled, "But they got used to the fact their daughter likes both guys and girls. They were a bit relieved when I got over that crush and started going out with UV, who's pretty much my other half." She half smiled at UV who hugged her.

"Don't break up with her." Shruti told him. "You've got a great girl. Don't let her go."

"Not a chance." UV assured the both of them. "She loves me. I love her. It's enough."

"We don't give a damn about your sexuality, Anandi." I assured her. "You're our best friend and you'll remain that way."

To cut a long story short, we spent the rest of the day on preparing for our upcoming science project and discussing theories on the murder case. And now I'd better give Priya the mike back. Looks like she has a lot to say on this upcoming matter.

 **Well that went well, don't you think? #supportinggayrights**

 **And bonus points if anyone recognizes the quote which Anandi told the bully, "You think the only people who are people, are the people who think and look like you. But if you follow the footsteps of a stranger, you'll learn things that you never knew."**

 **As usual, I shall ask:**

 **Who's your favorite legacy?**

 **Which was your favorite moment in this chapter?**

 **Any suggestions?**

 **Rate and review, my lovelies!**


	3. Anurag follows the demon dog

**Ah, boys. Such confusing humans. Luckily I've gotten over my crush crisis and have sworn off boys, so I'm okay. This chapter is a tribute to my beloved French teacher Jeyakar sir AKA the Thalaiva. And this is dedicated to iAndromeda and PR, since I believe they must have gone crazy waiting for an update. So enjoy!**

Yay! I get back the mike! Thank you Anjali!

Phase one of solving the mystery popped out of nowhere, two days later. We'd –Anjali, Mary, Rohan, Anurag and I- gone to a variety store to stock up on materials for the upcoming Science exhibition, when, quite to everyone's surprise, we'd bumped into the person we least expected to meet on a lazy Saturday afternoon.

"Jeyakar sir?" Rohan exclaimed in surprise at seeing our French teacher. "Hi Thalaiva! How are you sir?"

Okay, back up. I'd better fill you on our beloved French teacher AKA the best teacher in the world.

Jeyakar Sehayraj is the French teacher for classes eight, nine and ten. He is _brilliant_. If Jeyakar sir teaches you French then thank your lucky stars you got him. His classes are always a delight to attend, mainly due to his amazing ability to speak in sarcasm and dry humor. For example, when someone tries to joke around with him in class, he'd just look at the person and say, "God, these crazy people…" in the tone of a long suffering person. And since he's from Tamil Nadu, we call him 'Thalaiva'. And if people continue joking around, he'll just smile at the board in a helpless manner. Actually, you'd better check out the following conversation, to understand the working of Thalaiva.

Jeyakar sir just gave one of his trademark helpless smiles. "So you've finally decided to be useful and come out of your house, Rohan?"

"Well sir, I was missing you a lot! Were you missing me too?"

"Miss you? I already see you five times a week in your class! Why would I miss you?"

"Sir, I'll put you in jail sir!" Rohan pouted, making us snicker. "I'll even put your iPhone in jail too! I'll ask the police to give a separate cell for the phone!"

"Separate cell for sir's iPhone?" Anurag looked half incredulous and half amused. "Rohan, are you high or something?"

"Why not?" Rohan scratched his head. Jeyakar sir just smiled as he picked out some snacks from the shelf to his left.

"Come on sir! You just smile at the board at school for no reason and now you're smiling at the snacks too?"

"So I have to take permission to smile now?"

"Yes sir!"

"Oh, I see." He murmured nonchalantly and looked up at the sky as though praying, causing us to giggle. Mary then reminded us of our goal; find the required materials for our projects (Anurag was making a mini railway signal, I was making a project on how to control the model of a diver using a cork and a glass bottle filled with water and Rohan and Mary were making a lava lamp), sobering Anurag and I pretty fast. While we shopped a bit more, Rohan continued his banter with Jeyakar sir-who now was saying, "Well, what do you want me to do, cry out loud?"- while Mary went off in the opposite direction. Everything was going a tad well, when we heard a shrill scream from outside the store followed by a familiar growl. When we got outside, we saw the same hellhound pouncing at a familiar guy.

"Back off!" I yelled, throwing the nearest rock at the dog. The rock hit it straight on the head, which distracted it long enough for the man to crawl away. The guy had some pretty nasty slash marks on his left leg. A couple of nearby adults rushed at the dog, which took its heels.

"After it!" Anurag yelled and rushed to his bicycle.

"ANURAG!" I yelled after him, exasperated. Before I mounted onto my bike, I told Rohan and Mary to tend to the injured chap's wounds and call our parents. I then pedaled as fast as I could to get to Anurag. After a good fifteen minutes, I managed to catch up with my brother.

"Mon frère," I panted as we pedaled side by side, "Do you have to be this impulsive?"

"What do you mean, _this impulsive_?" He asked me, genuinely confused.

"Did you notice, which directions you took while following the bloody dog?!"

"…no?" He asked and turned left. I groaned as I followed him, and five minutes later, we found ourselves in front of a big bungalow, with no trace of the hound in sight. When we checked the condition of our bikes, I discovered a large gash on the front tire of my bicycle.

"Isn't this just _wonderful_?" I scowled at my offending vehicle.

"Why don't we check out this area, while we're at it?" Anurag asked, stashing his bike against a nearby tree.

"You check it out. I'm calling Mary." I pulled out my phone and dialed Mary's number.

"Hello?" She picked up on the fourth ring.

"Mary?"

"Oh my god, Priya! What were you both thinking?!"

"Yeah, don't ask. Did you call ACP uncle?"

"What do you think Rohan did? And guess who's the intended victim?"

"Who?"

"Joshua's dad!"

"HOLY MOTHER OF- I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!"

"You'd better." Mary grimly answered. "When are you getting back here?"

"Good question. My bike's tire needs replacement. I'll need someone to pick us up."

"Oh boy. I'll ask Jeyakar sir to pick you both, okay?"

"Okay." I gave her the instructions as to how to get to the bungalow and cut the call, just as Anurag called out from somewhere behind the bungalow, "Priyanka! Check it out!"

"Check what out?" I asked him when I got to him.

"Look there!" He pointed at a place beyond the bushed. In the distance was a blue and yellow building. It was a bit far away, but even from this distance, the school crest was unmistakable.

"So this bungalow's situated in front of DPS?" I whistled. "Anything else?"

"Hound of Baskervilles vanished." Anurag said, scratching his head.

"Hound of Baskervilles?" I asked him.

"Why not?"

By the time Jeyakar sir, Rohan and Mary arrived, we both had tried searching around the place for clues. We hadn't had much luck. The door was locked and neither of us knew how to pick a lock, so basically we just stayed outside. Jeyakar sir (bless that teacher) got my bike into the dickey of his car while Anurag decided to follow the car. While driving, I asked Mary, "How is uncle?"

"He's okay. Just a bit rattled." Mary tersely said. "What about the hound?"

"Vanished near the big bungalow." I replied. "And this bungalow's located some distance away from DPS. The distance is only a fifteen minute walk."

"Whoa." Rohan blinked. "Who does it belong to?"

"Do I look like I know?"

"I'm just asking." He shrugged. He looked at his phone. "Your dad's there. And he doesn't look too happy."

"Oh boy." I muttered. And sure enough, my father was at the crime scene, a frown on his face.

"Priyanka Aditi Srivastava." Oh man. If my dad used my full name, it meant that I was screwed. "And Anurag Athul Srivastava. What in the name on the one above were you _thinking_ when you went after the dog?"

"I just tried to stop him dad!" I pleaded.

"You both could have been hurt! Do you have any idea how dangerous and foolhardy that was?" Dad scolded the both of us. I hung my head down. He was right, that had been a pretty stupid decision.

"Sorry dad." Anurag mumbled. My dad's face softened a bit. He hugged the both of us. Most kids would think that was embarrassing, but not us.

"Just don't try any stunts like that again, okay?" We assured him we wouldn't try something like that again before he started questioning us again. We told him what we'd found there, which was not much. When we got back to the bureau, we were attacked by mom, who scolded us again for being quiet idiotic and going after a killing machine. While the adults gathered around for discussion, Meghna aunty took us back home on our parents' behalf. At home, I called Avinash and told him the summarized version of this brilliant escapade.

"When do we explore?" He asked.

"I was thinking, maybe tomorrow." I said thoughtfully. "We have to go to School tomorrow afternoon anyway for preparation of the science exhibition, so we can use some time to check this out." I knew I was crossing the line, but my innate curiosity took over me.

"That's against rules. And all of us can't go to the bungalow."

"Why not five of us go? We can just get everything set up in advance, so there won't be a problem."

"We have half a chance of getting into trouble, you know."

"It might be worth it."

"Hopefully." There was a short pause before he answered, "Well, I have to go. Good night. And by the way, good luck."

"Thanks." I hung up the phone and went to prepare for the next day. Next afternoon, at Three O'clock, our parents dropped us at the school with our projects. We went to our spots to make sure our models were working. After half an hour I checked my watch.

"If we're checking out the bungalow, we'd better do it now." I told the other legacies, who nodded.

"Priyanka, Anjali, Anurag, UV and I shall go. The rest of you lot, keep your eyes open for anything useful. If we don't come back soon, then notify someone, okay?" Avinash instructed us, before we sneaked out to the bungalow on our bikes (mine had been mended that morning itself). When we got there, Avinash frowned.

"Someone's been here." He pointed at the door, which now contained no lock.

"Could it be the owner?" I wondered out loud. Suddenly Anurag ran forward and pressed the doorbell.

"Anurag!" Anjali frowned. Anurag was about to open his mouth when the door opened to reveal Mr. Srikanth Rao, our chemistry teacher.

"What are you kids doing here?" He frowned through his spectacles. I was trying to think of an excuse when he continued, "Never mind, anyhow. I have some things to carry back to school and I need your help. Come in!" He went back inside, leaving us baffled by this plot twist. [Come on Anjali, it's my catchphrase!]

"Shall we?" Avinash asked us.

"By all means." I said, and entered the house.

 **Done! Anurag's middle name is a dedication to my (not biological) bro Athul S. Krishnan. Who do you think would be the cutest couple among the CID legacies?**

 **Rate and review!**

 **P.S. Andy, Kavin's ready for the HP trivia showdown. Go beat him, Tigress.**


	4. And we find the killer!

**ALL SUNDAY TESTS ARE OVER! THIS MEANS MORE TIME TO WRITE! YAY!**

 **Sorry for the extremely late update! After this chappie comes the epilogue, then it's time to end this story. Huh.**

 **Here we go!**

* * *

Well, that escalated quickly.

And yes it's me, the one and only Anjali Shetty. Now, back to business.

The interior of the bungalow looked quite furnished and clean. Srikanth sir just motioned us in impatiently. He looked as though he was some mad scientist with askew glasses and messy hair that looked as if it hadn't been combed all morning.

"Thank god you kids are here. I need your help; there are some projects that those eighth standard children left in my hand." He said, scratching his head. "You lot," He pointed at Anurag, UV, Priyanka and I, "Go to the basement. And you, Pradyuman," He frowned at Avinash a bit, "You come with me; we have to talk about that disappointing assignment on _Carbon and its compounds_ you submitted last week." He went for the kitchen. Avinash followed him with a defeated look and we took off for the basement.

I walked beside Anurag, who looked lost in thought. "Thinking of something?"

"Something's fishy." He muttered nonchalantly. "But what? I can't seem to put a finger on it."

"Hey, it'll come soon." I said.

The door to the basement was locked. We called out to Srikanth sir, who arrived with the key to unlock it. The moment we stepped in though, the door slammed shut behind us, engulfing us in total darkness.

"Oi! Let us out of here!" Priya yelled furiously and tried to open the door. Sir locked the door quickly and left us, his footsteps fading in the background. UV yelled at the top of his voice, "YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE US HERE! GET BACK HERE!"

"I can't see a thing!" Anurag gripped my left arm at the same time when Priyanka gripped my right arm. I dunno if it's a Srivastava thing or whatever, but when Priya gets nervous, her hands become _ice cold_ while Anurag's hands become _really, really hot_ when he gets upset.

"Um, guys? Could you let go?" I asked as I freed my arms to pull out my phone. The light from the screen shone brightly, which was good since the battery was only 35 percent.

"Where's a light switch when you need one?" I scowled as I shone the phone across the wall. "Priya, can't you text Avinash, or something?"

"Trying! Now shut up and let me concentrate!" She said in an upset tone. UV and Anurag started helping out by proceeding further into the room. Seconds later, I heard a _thump_ , followed by UV saying, "Ouch! Where's a phone when you need one? Ah-" Another light appeared in the darkness and was waved around a bit, before UV finally said, "Wow."

"Wow what?" I asked, irritated.

"Wow, this!" The light now shone on a dark skinned hand holding a couple of gold coins and a red stone. My jaw dropped at the sight.

"My gods!" Anurag muttered, excited. "This ought to be it! The lost treasure!"

"How is that possible?" Priya snapped at him, tapping at her phone in frustration.

"How many treasures we know of lie around randomly in Mumbai?"

"Good point."

"Hey." I resumed my job of finding the light switch. "Priya, have you sent the text or what?"

"It's taking an awfully long time to get sent! Bloody phone!" Priya practically growled. I looked at my best friend, whose face was illuminated by the said phone. She looked frustrated and worried as she shook the phone and tapped it some more.

After searching for it a bit more, I found a switch and pressed it. A yellow light illuminated a room filled with four adolescents and a treasure which we had only read about in fairy tales and seen in movies.

The room was filled with mounds of gold coins. Precious stones of all colors and sizes glittered among the coins, the nearest stone to me, a ruby the size of Rohit's clenched fist and let me tell you something, Rohit's hands are _big_. Anurag eagerly scooped up some emeralds and looked at them in awe.

"Oh my gods." He grinned a wild, crazy grin. "If this is the 'small fortune', then I have no idea just how big the original treasure was in the olden times."

"Finally!" Priyanka's face softened a bit. "It's sent! Please Avi, please read it…"

"I'm gonna break the door down." I decided, and was immediately stopped by Anurag.

"This is absolutely not the time to copy your dad!" He said. "All hope will be lost if Avinash doesn't get here! Has he replied?" Priyanka shook her head at this.

Five minutes passed and still there was no sign of civilization. I was once again considering breaking the door down, when we heard footsteps outside the door. The door rattled once or twice, then we heard Avinash's low voice say, "Guys? Priya? Are you there?"

"Avi!" The girl in question sighed in relief. "We're locked in; Srikanth sir locked us in!"

"The teacher tried to drug me." He answered in anger. "Must have given me sleeping tablets or something, I pretended to drink it and faint within three minutes. He's locked the door and gone."

"How are we getting out now?" UV asked.

Prompt came the answer. "I nicked his duplicate house key at the first opportunity. This door though…does anyone have a hairpin or something?"

"I have one." Priyanka frowned a bit. "But why?"

"Could you pass me the pin?" She obliged by taking off the pin and pushing it under the door to the other side. We waited for a few minutes before the door knob once again rattled. And this time, the door opened to reveal a much relieved Avinash who promptly hugged Priyanka the second they faced each other.

After getting out of the house, we ran over to our bikes, which had been stashed away in the hedges, but otherwise looked okay. We made it to the school a freaking ten minutes later- owing to the fact we pedaled twice as hard- and raced over to our exhibits, where we were met by the rest of the gang.

"Just in time!" Mary whispered and looked at us. "What the heck happened?"

Once we were done with our explanations, Amit took out his phone. "I'm calling dad."

"We don't have proof though!" Anurag said.

"And besides, we won't have to call our parents." Mayuri said.

"Why?"

"They've arrived with the chief guest." Shruti pointed at the entrance, where Dr. John Jacob was shaking hands with the principal while the CID officers stood beside him with wary expressions.

We attended to our models. Priyanka immediately went over to the nearby hose to refill her glass bottle and I made sure my model of the elevator was functioning. The whole gig went well for half an hour. And during the half hour, by the time my parents arrived at my area, I had single handedly managed to make an ass out of myself by stuttering and fumbling with my speech on the model.

I have to admit, I'm not great with speeches. Unlike Priya, who has the magical ability to form speeches in a matter of few seconds, I'm horrible at speaking in public. So, when Mom and Dad got to me, I immediately said, "Not a word. Not. One. Bloody. Word. "

"That bad?" Mom slightly smiled.

"I can't get it right!" I groaned. "I've tried and tried, but I can't do it!"

"It's okay." Dad just looked at the model in approval. "The point is, you tried. You've put much more effort into your work this time. For that, we have a reward."

At my quizzical look, mom smiled. "After the case is solved, all of us will go on a one day picnic to Mahakali caves in the weekend. You've been wanting to visit them, haven't you all?" This news would have made me jump around in joy, had not we heard the infamous growl of that stupid hound.

A scream pierced the air as the dog bounded across the hall towards Dr Jacob, who tried to run fast. Abhijeet uncle pulled out his gun and BANG! shot the dog. The bullet grazed the dog's leg, but it was enough to divert its attention. It changed directions and raced over to Abhijeet uncle.

"THE HOSE, YURI! THE BLOODY HOSE!" Priya yelled at Mayuri, who caught the memo and ran to pick up the hose. Rohan turned the pipe so fast, a jet of water sprang out from it and hit the hound at full speed, soaking everyone else in the process, including me.

"MOTHER-"

"UDAYVEER! LANGUAGE!"

"Sorry mom!"

"And so, the mystery of the hellhound is solved!" Shruti went over to the clearly exhausted dog, which no longer looked like a hellhound.

The hound was huge all right, but it sported a shaggy, brown coat of fur that was sopping wet. The red eyes were still there, but they no longer looked scary now, owing to the lack of hellish features on it. They looked…fake. [Priyanka, what on earth are you face palming for? I've got nothing else!]

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" A voice was heard. Joshua broke out from the crowd, his eyes widened in shock. "Spirit? Is that really you?"

" _Spirit_?" We legacies asked in confusion. "You know this dog?" Rohan asked him.

"That's _my_ dog!" Joshua answered in shock. "But-but Mr. Rao had taken you away to be put down! Why did he lie?"

"Hey-hey! Srikanth sir! He's running off!" Rohan suddenly exclaimed.

"Not so fast!" Sachin uncle and Anita aunty immediately took off in his direction. In the meantime,the rest of the officers had us explain what exactly had iccured. Priyanka and Avinash took turns in explaining whatever had occurred that very day. By the time they finished, our parents were staring at us open mouthed.

Sachin uncle and Anita Aunty dragged back with them a struggling Srikanth sir, who looked quite furious at the revelation of his plot. Dr Jacob looked at the man, frowning a bit.

"Explain." Dad said pointedly.

"I-I won't!" Srikanth sir shook his head. "Hit me all you want! I won't utter a single word!"

"Hold on a minute." Dr. Jacob looked at sir's tight, buttoned up collar. "I may look crazy, but for some reason, you sound a lot more familiar now…" He suddenly reached for the collar.

"Don't you dare touch me Jacob!" Sir spat at him. Dr Jacob ignored him as he undid the collar and pulled it down. There was a mark in the shape of a lightning on the bottom left side of his neck. The doctor's facial expression changed to that of satisfaction.

"I thought so."

"What do you mean, Doctor?" Tarika Aunty asked. In response, the doc undid his collar button and showed the bottom left side of his neck, which held the same lightning mark. Ignoring the looks if bemusement directed at him, he faced Srikanth sir and said, "Hello, Alton. Long time, no see, my brother."

"Broth-" I began, and then recollected what Joshua had told us. "Srikanth Rao is Alton John?!"

"It appears so." Dr Jacob looked grimly at Srikanth sir, now Alton John. "I believe you were out to get me for the money, weren't you? The non-existent treasure."

"The treasure isn't non-existent." Alton glowered at us. "Those meddlesome kids made sure of that."

"How exactly did you plan this fiasco anyway?" ACP uncle asked incredulously. Alton took a deep breath before answering.

"I planned it all. I first made sure that Alton John was dead. After the dispute, I made sure that I moved out of the city as soon as possible. The train in which I had gone suffered a nasty accident moments after it had exited Mumbai. The person sitting opposite to me, the original Srikanth Rao, had died in the explosion of the train. In the explosion, a few people, including me, had survived with massive burns. I saw my chance and bribed the plastic surgeon to reconstruct my face into that of the man's. Alton John was dead. Srikanth Rao was alive. Everyone believed that."

"My next step was to get my brothers out of the way. Mathew was the easier target and therefore I decided to do away with him first. I got interested in this dog when I first moved here. I got Jacob to give me the dog to be put down for the peace of the locality after pretending to be disgusted by its presence. Once that was done, I rented out the bungalow which belonged to our family once and trained the dog there. After some work, I located the treasure in the basement behind two false walls. The treasure officially belonged to Mathew and Jacob, so I decided to bump them off through the dog. I got the materials which I needed. The phosphor for the dog's coat, fake contact lenses-"

"What? Look Sri-Alton sir, I don't know about you, but I've never heard of contacts for dogs." Anurag shook his head at him.

"I have an acquaintance." Alton said, scowling. "I trained Spirit to kill Mathew. It was easy; the haunted house was the perfect area for this act. But then, I hadn't counted on these kids spoiling my plans! They _had_ to try investigate!"

"You got outwitted by eleven fifteen year olds." We smugly smiled at ACP uncle's statement. "You killed off one of your brothers, attempted to kill the other and all for the money? Well, this time Alton John will stay dead! You'll be hanged for your crimes! Take him away!"

* * *

 **Done! The epilogue is left! Don't leave my story that fast! Picture abhi bhi baaki hai!**

 **Rate and review, my beauties!**


	5. Preview

**Not a chapter! Sorry!**

 **Topaaz007, I think I must have driven you crazy with my promise of a CID HP crossover story and not showing it. Well, here is the preview for my upcoming story (a CID HP crossover) titled 'Anita Williams and the resurrection stone', and it's set one year after the battle of Hogwarts.**

* * *

"So, we're all first timers." Purvi grinned at all of them. "What house do you think you'll be in?"

Anita pondered over the question. "I dunno. Gryffindor maybe?"

"What about you, Purvi?" Nikhil asked her.

"Everyone expects me to get sorted into Gryffindor. 'Oh, wonderful! We'll have another Gryffindor in the family!' As if." She snorted and reached to her left to pull her bag towards her. "Slytherin sounds pretty cool, don't you think?"

"The dark lord was in Slytherin." Sachin said.

"Bah. Not every Slytherin is evil and not every evil witch or wizard was a Slytherin."

* * *

Anita picked up the stone. Except for a jagged crack running down it on one side, it was quite smooth. The symbol of a triangle enclosing a circle was quite discernible, though what it symbolized was unknown to her. Anita idly turned the stone around three times in her hand as she scanned the forested area around her for some familiar landmark. She suddenly heard slight movements behind her that suggested frail bodies shifting their footing on the earthly, twig-strewn ground and eagerly turned around, hoping it to be either Sachin or Hagrid.

Instead, she faced a man and a woman, who looked less substantial than living bodies, but much more than ghosts. Both their faces had warm, almost hungry looks as though they would never be able to look at her enough.

* * *

"It's none of your business Sachin!"

"You're my friend! That-that stone's dangerous!"

"I'm just talking to my parents! It's like they're with me now!"

"They can't come back! They're not really there! I'm begging you Anita, let the stone go! It's killing you!"

* * *

Anita woke up with a searing headache, as though numerous tiny men were hammering her head with full force. Her surroundings were none too comfortable. She was somewhere damp and cold, with a wet floor and mossy walls. In the background stood a burly figure, who walked over with a slight sneer on his face. Anita stared at the face for a few seconds before widening her eyes at her kidnapper who was the last person on earth she'd expected to kidnap and assault someone.

* * *

"Where is it?"

"Where is what?" She feigned ignorance as she struggled to free herself from her bonds.

"You know what I mean, Williams. Where is the bloody stone?"

"I-I don't know."

"You dropped it somewhere. Tell me where it is! _Crucio_!"

* * *

 **I hope that was okay. Topaaz, what do you think?**

 **Story coming soon! Stay tuned!**


	6. Epilogue

**Sorry for the long delay! Belated merry Christmas to all you people!**

* * *

And once again, your favorite Srivastava continues to record!

Christmas was a simple yet awesome affair at the bureau. On Christmas eve, the whole bureau had undergone some re decorations. Christmas was to be spent in the bureau itself. We would have gone out somewhere that day, but a case had popped up that very morning. Siriusly, didn't criminals understand the concept of a holiday?

But at the bureau, while almost everyone was cheerful, I felt really upset. Why? Because, they were gone. My heroes were in hell. It was not fair. He'd gone missing for half a year, after a huge battle. She'd searched high and low for him and succeeded. And after that, they had to go on an incredibly dangerous journey with great consequences. Just as they had almost made it…

Why did fate have to be so screwed up? Why did they have to fall in hell? Why couldn't they have a normal life? My dad had told me it was the best people who suffered the most sometimes. Even though I knew what was going to happen to them, I still felt like my soul had been ripped apart brutally. [And there goes Anjali face palming.]

When Anurag and I got to the bureau with Sarah aunty (Anandi's mum), Anandi and Kavin uncle, Anjali immediately noticed my melancholy. "What happened to Priya?"

"She finished reading the mark of Athena." He said, stifling a smile as I glared at him.

"You're still not over that book?" Anjali asked me, scratching her head in confusion. "Damn girl, how many times have you read it?"

"Not enough. WHY IS UNCLE RICK SUCH A TROLL?!" I cried in frustration. My question was left unanswered by UV running in towards Anandi, yelling her name in relief. Anjali clapped her hand on my back as she steered me to the center of the room, where a beautiful chocolate cake stood on the table.

While the pieces of chocolate cake were being distributed, I grabbed two slices and went to Avinash, who was sitting at the table and offered him one. Along with that, I asked him, "How's ACP uncle taken to retiring in the future?"

"He's going to miss this next year." Avinash looked at our parents and ACP sir, who were busy cracking jokes. "All the action, the fun…it's been amazing for him. Seriously though, can you imagine grandpa quietly sitting at home?"

"Retired ACP Pradyuman? That's an oxymoron."

"He's the best ACP they've ever had. I mean, ACP Ajatashatru's cool, but grandpa's one of a kind."

"The secret Santa's starting! Get your butts over here, you two!" Mayuri called us to the center as we prepared to open the gifts. We went in the order; Kids first, Adults later.

Avinash opened his to find an FC BARCELONA football jersey and looked like his dream had come true. He's always wanted a jersey of his favorite team.

"Let me guess…Rohit?" He guessed.

"Ding ding ding! And we have a winner!" Rohan theatrically announced as Rohit hi fived Avinash.

I opened mine next and found a register along with a set of different colored gel pens, a notepad and a set of highlighters. I looked around at the legacies trying to figure out who got it for me.

"Anjali?" I asked her.

"Nope."

"Shruti?" I asked said girl, who shook her head albeit knowingly. Hmm…it suddenly occurred to me.

"It can't be _UV_ , can it?" I asked, surprised.

"A worthy gift for the literary genius!" UV grinned at me. "Be honest, you didn't expect this to come from me didn't you?"

"Never." I sheepishly admitted.

Anurag's gift was a new mobile phone cover with Katrina Kaif's picture in the middle. Everyone knew of Anurag's celebrity crush on the actress.

"This is a bit easy. Mayuri?" Mayuri gave a thumbs up at this.

Rohit and Anjali got a new pair of earphones and a tape recorder with some empty tapes respectively (from Shruti and Rohan), Amit got a paper cut and a stick of deodorant (from Avinash), Mary got a calligraphy set (from yours truly), Mayuri got a pair of fingerless gloves (from Amit), Rohan got a new pair of _adidas_ sneakers (from Mary), Shruti got a sketchpad (from Anandi), UV got a bag of sweets (from Anurag) and Anandi got some pink eye shadow (from Anjali".

As we all admired our gifts, I asked my best friend, "What are you going to do with a tape recorder?"

"I dunno." Anjali looked at it, contemplatively.

"I have an idea." I suddenly said brightly. "Let's do a recording."

"Of what?"

"Of our adventure with that hound! At least some good will come out of it!"

"After the party?"

"Sure." And this is what led the two of us to recording the whole adventure.

I guess now you've got to know how awesome and dangerous it was. I bet that fifty percent of you listeners would be interested in joining the CID. Well that's a great idea! Just remember the risks, which include murderous chemistry teachers, a huge hell hound, blood all over you…[Oi, stop trying to grab the mike away from me!]

Once we finish the recording, we'll send it to this lovely kid we know. I think her name is Elisha, or something. She'll type it out and put it on some blog of hers for people to read I guess.

Okay, then.

This is Priyanka Srivastava and Anjali Shetty, signing off for now.

* * *

 **Done! Rate and review!**


End file.
